What Do You Want?

...and what are you going to do to get it?

Let's put a little sharper point on the pencil here.  We are talking about money.  Money lubricates life. If you are not meeting your bills rights now... if you want something you can't afford right now... if you have college loans to pay... if  you are not set up well for retirement and have no realistic Plan B... name your need:_____________________.

No matter the reason for you needing more money, addressing these needs is (and will remain) a dream or a wish unless you have a strategy to close the gap between where you are, and where you want to be.

What we do is offer ONE option.  ONE alternative.  ONE thing for you to consider.  The reality is that there are a million ways to make money.  You only need ONE.  What we do may or may not be that ONE thing.  Our point is that if you brush off what we do and don't have a serious look, you are significantly short-changing yourself (your life, your future).

Money is fuel.  It powers the things you want in life. You won't know if our fuel is dry garss and twigs, or if it is liquid nitrogen under pressure - until and unless you give what we do a fair "read", an honest evaluation and compare it to every other thing you have ever heard of and considered as a way to make money.

You owe this to yourself and to your family - if you have one.

Broke and Broken

This post is going to be a bit tough, but it is the unvarnished reality.  You won't find many people who are trying to recruit warm bodies, do the numbers and see who sticks...  talking about this.

From our perspective, we want to be selective and help people we introduce to what we do and self-select.  In this context, here's the deal:  you will not build a business working with broke and broken people.  Yes, this may sound harsh, but unfortunately, it is absolutely true.

First, let's address broke.  Being in business inherently involves the creation of commerce (the exchange of money for something of value).  Many people are simply not wired for this.  The "why" behind this is not easily answered.  However, the broad stroke on this topic is that people who have been surviving month to month and living hand-to-mouth simply do not have the risk tolerance to do anything outside of their current experience and comfort zone.  Therefore, they remain "stuck".  They don't have (and won't risk) the money it takes to get out of their box.  There is no judgment here. It is a safe way to survive.  However, it erases a huge segment of what otherwise could be a much larger potential market. If, for about the price of a dinner out for two (a month) - to get started in a business that can absolutely be life-altering is too much... this in all probability this qualifies someone as broke.

Second, many people are broken (or) their notions about what we do are broken.  I am not going to go down this rabbit hole too far.  There are so many reasons why this is the case... and as many scenarios as there are people.  I will say however thr number of past failures in home-based-business "type deals" is a big one.  The readily available social pronouncement of direct sales opportunities with an organization-building component as "scams" is another.  People "buy" these arguments as valid without a complete examination.  This is "the way it is" for some people. Again, no judgment. Everyone has and is entitled to their opinion.

Our goal and our role is to find people who are not broke or broken.  There are plenty of bright and eager people who are receptive to creating an additional source of income.  Our job is to find them and guide them through an information-gathering process.  And, they must have the risk tolerance to reach into their pocket for the first time and part with a sum of money that they will recover completely with their first sale.

This is the truth.  It is intended to: 1) be a barometer for you to use (for yourself) if you are considering joining us, and; 2) if you are already in a business - to understand that you absolutely only want to work with people who have the ability to rise above their mindset of being broke, or elevate themselves beyond being broken.

The reality is this: many, many people are stuck.  We can't spend our time helping people get out of their ditch who are sitting in their car, gunning the gas, and spinning their wheels.  We need to find those who already have the boards under the tires and their shoulder to the bumper and are simply thankful for someone to come along and give them a hand to get back on the road and continue on their journey.

They are out there.  Our role is to find and educate them about what we do.

Consulting / Coaching / Advising

At the end of the day, if you wanted a description of what we do, the goal is to be a consultant and coach.  We advise and counsel and help people determine if they think we can help them through working collaboratively toward financial prosperity.

First, we consult with people and provide information.  We, as business owners, evolve through information acquisition to the point of becoming experts at what we do.  Our "job" is to match people who have the mindset, drive, and resources (with) our business model and our business philosophy.  In this sense, we do not "sell".  We simply guide people through an information and decision-making process.  For the prospect, this is a real bargain, because we offer this service for free.

Second, our role is to coach.  In many places on this blog, I use the word "teach".  I compare the process to going to school.  You need to learn, then take what you have learned and teach it to others. This continuity of information being passed along engenders competence at all levels of your organization.  It is the at the core of everyone's success.

This "concept" of competence takes precedence over anything else.  The business, the business model, the business philosophy... all do not matter unless they are all being competently "driven". Literally, we teach / coach people how do drive our income vehicle.

If you are willing to learn, then teach what you have learned... if you are willing to support and hold others accountable for their effort (or lack of effort)... if you can see yourself being grounded in a foundation of helping others elevate themselves from financial stress and all of the life issues that accompany "lack"... then you can do this.

It is good, redeemable, socially valuable "work".  We genuinely help people become stronger, better, smarter and through all of this:  financially stable.  When you get to the point of believing that this is what you do, there is not stopping anyone from embracing success.

Alan Shawn Feinstein

I live in Rhode Island.  To most people in this state, the "named" in this post is well known.  He gives significant amounts of money to education and then requires schools be named after him.  He still advertises on TV promoting his foundation and philanthropic efforts.  His career has not been without controversy, but overall he is perceived as a good man with a lot of money who attempts to do good in the world. You can look up his Wiki.

The interesting thing here is how this "self-made" man garnered his wealth?  Among being a stamp trader and buying and selling (the physical) Babe Ruth's contract - a significant percentage of his money came from selling a subscription to newsletters.  One was called "The Wealth Maker", and another called "International Insider's Report".  He also wrote booklets called, "How To Make Money" and "How to Make Money Fast".

So what does this have to do with what we do?  It is reported that Feinstein, at his peak, had a circulation / subscription of about 400,000 (a month).  To get to this number, he bought lists from brokers and did direct mail marketing, he also advertised in magazines... (Neither of these we do or advocate).

Although I have not been able to find the number, for illustration purposes, let's say his subscription was $10 a month.  For the time it lasted, that is $4 million a month.  These are lofty numbers and explain why he can give money away in million dollar chunks.  Thirty-six million a year spells success by anyone's standard.

What we do is completely parallel. We provide the structure (the platform) that enables you to market a subscription.  However, instead of having a 400K subscriber base, you need the participation of about 30 people.  Or, to tweak this just a bit, most people need 30 people to replace their income.

The question very simply becomes, "Do you think there are 30 people in this world (who you, along with those in your group can find) that are seeking to change their financial circumstances?"  We explain the money and how it works in the next step of your research.  However, suffice it to say, the monthly commitment is a "sweet spot" of affordability and the out-of-pocket risk is minimal if you get busy and treat your business as a business.

Get back to the person who led you here.  Find out more.  Find out all you can.  Decisions are a function of information.  The information is free.  Your life, your future, your happiness could be in the balance.  All we ask at this juncture is that you do your homework, then decide if it might be a potential "fit".

Money Instructions

Instructions provide detailed information about how something should be done.  As such, instructions are free of bias.  They do not favor anything.  Instructions just tell you what to do.  When you bake a cake out of a box:  1) preheat the oven...  When you assemble a grill:  1) remove contents from packaging and inspect...  We have all followed instructions since we could read.

What if there were a recipe or assembly instructions to make money?  First, do this.  Second, do this. Third...  Then at the end, you will have assembled money.  Can it be that easy?

At great risk of oversimplification, the answer is actually "yes".  It all starts with Step 1, which is learning all you can about our Marketing Group and philosophy of doing business.  Step 2 is learning about the vehicle we use to make money.  Step 3 is to get your questions answered.  Step 4 is deciding to join us.

Once you decide to get involved, there is a whole new set of instructions.  These instructions are tailored to you, based upon your circumstances, the amount of time you can invest, your past experience with sales and marketing... and then putting together a set of instructions that you will follow to enable your success.  These instructions differ for everyone.  Some might call it a game plan... or a strategy...  But the adage applies here:  if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

When considering all of this, you should keep in mind that there are many people very generously profiting from what we do.  However, more importantly, you need to know it "doesn't just happen". It ALL requires thought and effort.

So, let me bring this back to Step 1.  Find out all you can about us.  Read this blog.  Be in touch with the person who led you here and ask about the vehicle we use to make money.  Ask tough questions and be a skeptic.  It's all good.

Prove to yourself that earning money is as easy as following a set of instructions.

We did.  Again, Step 1 is to learn all you can.  Study "us" like your entire future depends on it.

Participatory Economics

If the title seems a bit dense, bear with me as I explain.

The central notion of Participatory Economics is that we can produce the conditions that enable you to achieve financial stability.  In time, the goal is to achieve prosperity and ultimately, wealth. Participatory Economics is a process.  It is a philosophy.  It is a strategy.  You control the level of participation through the investment of your time, effort and resources.

On the most basic level, we share and participate in an "idea".  This idea - literally - is that we create our own economy - individually (and) collectively.  We are a community of people with the shared purpose of putting money woes in the rear view mirror.  For far too many people, money is an adversary.  It doesn't need to be this way.

So, how do we do it?

We describe what we do as achieving financial independence through financial inter-dependence.  As adults (of intelligence and having the powers of judgment and discernment) - we subscribe to a common idea, pool common resources and create a common experience.  In this case, the common experience is financial stability through cooperation and helping ourselves through helping others.  At the end of the day, our model compares favorably to a "club" with each member owning individual responsibility for the greater, common good of the group, and also benefiting personally from their involvement.

Our "idea" is based on individuals who take the time to understand and (then) consent to being involved with a community of people who utilize the mechanics of leveraging money to the benefit of everyone who participates.  In this sense, we create our own economy.  Fundamentally, we are our own economy.

We share a common culture and core set of beliefs and values.  We share information, knowledge and collective wisdom in a community of support and culture of assistance.  In the process of all of this, we help people change their relationship to money and to how they earn a living.

All you need to do is to figure out if any of this makes sense to you.  Right now, this is all happening - without you.  This is not a "take away", but simply to say that there is an active and vital community you can choose to join that will support you in your quest to change your financial circumstances. Right now, you can choose to reach out to the person who pointed you here and engage in your first conversation on the phone or via email.  You have everything to gain by simply learning about what we do and deciding if it "fits" with whatever criteria you measure it against.

The ultimate decision is yours as to whether you can make it work.  We are here to provide information and to assist you in making a decision whether joining us makes sense for you at this time in your life.  We will be happy to hear from you.

Subscribe to a New Life

What if you could just "enroll" to change your finances?  What if a monthly subscription, with the ability to enroll other subscribers enabled you to do just that?

This is what we do.  In the most straightforward and refreshingly honest way we can muster, we provide a voice that aspires to elevate your belief that "changing your life" is possible.  We then go a step further and also provide a platform for you to consider to make it happen.

The title of this post, "Subscribe to a New Life" simplifies our business from the most basic concept of a recurring monthly commitment - that can and will  - result in a liberated life that you can live on your own terms.

There is so much more to it - that you can find in the other posts on this blog.  The point here is this:  you can choose to subscribe.  You can choose to work toward a liberated life.

Our goal (our job) is to simply expose you to one way to get there.

Our Model

An Appeal to Sensibilities

We market a subscription to make money.  If this is taking a moment to sink in, let's rearrange the words.  To make money, we market a subscription.

Essentially, this is our business model. It is a model that enables the development and growth of monthly income.  For the same / predictable / fixed amount that you invest each month, you have the opportunity to receive an unlimited number of subscriptions equal to the same amount - directly deposited into your bank account.

Stable, consistent, predictable money.  This is not a license to wave a wand and "poof" - it just happens.  But at the end of the day, when you have the knowledge, skills, and habits to generate these deposits, it is really a matter of doing the same thing over and over again.

Like many things, the concept is simple.  However, making it happen is not easy.  If it were, everyone would be doing it.

I talk about the obstacles in many other posts on this blog.  The biggest one is most peoples' inability to adapt to change and incorporate new things into their lives / lifestyles.

For this post, I want to keep the "conversation" at a high level and aspirational.  Without the hype, I simply and realistically want to point to the possibility of something that is potentially life altering. To get there, you need to learn all you can, analyze and judge, then jump on board if you think what we do is viable and makes sense.

Our goal as a community is to help.  We teach what we do.  We teach how to find, educate and enroll subscribers.  Sensibly. Practically. Realistically.  While at the same time, strenuously advocating for and engendering the ethos of community, shared experience and financial inter-dependence.

Subscription Income: Become the Magazine Publisher or the Cable Company

We build a subscriber base - on a couple of levels.

First, we ask people to subscribe to our ideas.  We seek people who are willing to adopt our philosophy and values.  Our goal is to build a community that is driven by competence.  Competence infers knowledge and skills, learning and teaching and being a professional at what we do.

Second, we ask people to subscribe to a monthly commitment of money.  This is just like any other subscription, whether it be a magazine, a cable bill or a health club membership.

The difference is this:  you become the magazine publisher or the cable company.  You are the one collecting monthly subscription payments.  In return for your single monthly investment that you make to someone else,  you put yourself in the position to receive many multiple subscription payments to you.

Ultimately we put you in the position to create your own economy. We develop a community of people who share a common understanding and vision, which can (relatively quickly) develop into a full-time income.

• Our business model compounds money through the application of well understood and time-tested financial mechanics. Our business avails these to you.  
• We create leveraged residual income employing a simple, automatic monthly subscription.  Our business provides the structure to make this happen.  

It works - and is easy to understand.  Month after month after month - you build a subscriber base that grows and grows and grows.  All you have to do is share the idea like we are doing here.

It is new.  It is technology enabled.  It is simple.  It is clean.  It makes sense.  We are eager to fill in the details for you.

What Have you Done, Today?

It doesn't matter what it is.  Listen, some people have time.  Some people have money.  Some people have skills.  Many don't have skills.

If you have money, you can invest in tools to automate some of the functions of your business.  If you don't, you have to take a slower path that will inherently require more grunt work.  No matter your starting point, you NEED to be doing something to get "whatever you have to offer" in front of people to evaluate - TODAY.

In our business,this involves getting people to online information where they can look at videos, be directed to blog posts, have the opportunity to read third party reviews and begin the evaluation process of whether what we do will be a good fit for them.

The biggest mistake most "new" people make is spending all of their time initially learning things and not "taking action" to get their message in front of people. It doesn't matter what this might be:  social media, distributing flyers in your neighborhood, walking into businesses and talking to business owners... (this is talked about elsewhere on this blog).  The key is: from day one, do something / anything that smells like marketing (getting your message in front of people for them to evaluate).

Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Group Think

Let's not over-complicate this.  What we do at the most foundational level is build a community (a group of people) who think alike in regard to:

• a strategy to make money
• shared values
• financial inter-dependence
• mutual support
• learning and teaching as the keys to success
• commitment to the long-term

These are at the core.  The vehicle we use to make money could be anything.  The community we build and belong to is the most important aspect of your business.  It is about relationships and belonging. It is about honesty and building on small successes that build into larger and larger successes.

It looks and smells like integrity due to the very real sentiment of people caring for each other and leaving financial struggle in the rear view mirror.

It is about the sacrifice of your time to help others understand the tools and techniques that we use and are necessary to use. This is the work we do.  We help people understand and grow into competence.

Unless we are developing competencies in our "group", the money won't matter, because it will never happen.  Part of this skill set is watching out for and caring for the people who are looking to you for guidance.  

Earning Platforms

The goal for any business is to make money.  Broadly, any business is an earning platform.  It doesn't matter what the business is.  At the end of the day, money is exchanged for something of real or perceived value.

Our business is an earning platform. It provides the structure to take a relatively small amount of money and leverage it into larger and larger amounts of money.  It is straightforward and systematic geometric growth.

The key to (y)our growth is understanding that competence has to be at the center of this earnings universe.  There is no winging it.  What we do requires competent knowledge, that leads to skills and taking these knowledge and skills and competently applying effort to tell other people what we do -and how they can get involved.

It is our platform - no different than a political party platform - that has pillars that the whole proposition stands on.  Knowledge, competence and effort applied in intelligent and productive ways. There is no need for bluster and to make income claims.  What anyone else "makes" has no bearing on your income.  What someone else "makes" is simply a reflection of how much value they can provide to you based upon their expertise and work ethic.

Productive people intelligently applying effort is what drives our earning platform.  If you are not finding ways every day to tell others about what you do (this defines marketing), you do not have a business and you will not make money.

We teach marketing and tailor it to your time and talents.  You bring your experience to the table (platform) and we help you find ways to flourish.  Leave no doubt.  Knowledge and applied effort translate to competence as a marketer.  Unless you can, and are willing to share what you do with others (tell other people about our earning platform), you will not make a penny.

"Scam" and "Pyramid Scheme" Marketing

If you Google just about any Home Business opportunity, among the top results, you will find multiple articles eluding to "Scam (or) Not?".   This may typically be accompanied by a claim that identifies what you are researching as a pyramid or Ponzi scheme.  Here's what you need to know.

These terms rank, especially for those who know how to use (manipulate) them to achieve rankings. Because the algorithms at Google look for consumer protection terms, in just about any instance if these keywords are used, they will automatically rank in the search results.  But, here's the deal.

This is a form of reverse marketing.  Scam and pyramid scheme marketing is a strategy. "Scam Marketers" use "the opportunity" you are researching to gain your attention, say some negative things about it, and then switch and pitch you on something that they are marketing.  Oftentimes, this is accompanied by denigrating the founder or anything else they can find from their own Google search to fill a "cesspool article" regarding how awful what you are evaluating is - and to steer clear.

I did not understand this for a long time.  In reality, nothing is perfect and you can find something wrong with anything.  All one has to do is make their laundry list of these things, write about them and then say, "If you want to know what I find superior, take a look at this...".  Frankly, it is sleazy.  

And then, in many of these posts, the author has people in his downline comment on the article agreeing with everything said - to make it appear that there is a ton of social proof.  These posts are infuriating if you know what is actually going on.

You need to use your own powers of discrimination and evaluate our business on its own merits.  You can and will find articles on just about any Affiliate business that claim it is a scam.  This is a dirty little secret. 

The businesses we are involved with do have leverage components.  We do recruit and build organizations, like any business.  Any successful business has a customer base that is conditioned to buy and be loyal.  They buy from you on an ongoing basis - you are their go-to source for whatever you sell.  This fidelity and loyalty to you, whether you are a bank, or a tire brand is how successful businesses are built and thrive.  We are no different.

And one final thing, the structure of our business is not even close to resembling a pyramid.  It is more akin to a silo with width and depth, but not successive layers of increased percentages paid to the company or "people at the top".   Any claims otherwise and attributing the term "pyramid" is simply ignorance or malfeasance to serve one's own ends.

Just a head's up.  This is all stuff you need to know.

We Help People (help themselves)

Our goal and mission is to transfer skills and knowledge.  With the application of these in very specific and targeted ways - we create a path to financial stability.  Then prosperity.  Then total financial independence.

If you think this can be done overnight and without the necessary investment of time to learn and apply, you are (unfortunately) sorely mistaken.  What we do is completely analogous to going to school, getting your degree in teaching - and then being a teacher.  If you can not help others (or this does not appeal to you) then our business will not be a good fit for you.

We do not really "mass market" and look for warm bodies to sign-up.  We much prefer slow, solid growth with people committed to competence (personally) and the competence of a group of people who become professional marketers - whom you have helped and mentored.

Frankly, most people totally miss this in the home business industry - and it the reason for the high failure rate.  I talk about "change" in many other posts on this blog.  Learning and change (or, learning to change) is at the very core of what it takes to be successful.

What This is About - At Its Core

We were mystified for years at our inability to make money with anything but a conventional “job”. We knew there must be something missing.  Our “Ah Ha!”  moment occurred when we figured out what follows.

We figured there has to be a way to communicate a message with common, mass appeal, and if we figured it out, there could be a lot of money in the balance.  After all, the need for more money is universal… at least for the “99%”.  So what causes such a large majority of people to remain strapped to struggle with poverty constantly nipping at their heels?  Or worse yet, sitting in their laps?

It is not a simple answer.  But wouldn’t it be great if there was a strategy that people could trust that is simple, clear and easily understood?  If that were the case, and enough people rallied around… and the motives behind the whole proposition were transparent and true, then why should it be such a stretch to add money to the equation and allow the law of large numbers to do its work and people could join a community for the purpose of each others’ financial benefit?

So the starting point is not a business opportunity, but a philosophy or mission statement.  It is not about this “deal” or that “program”, but about a community of people who share the common value of being equally invested in participating (and working toward) assisting with each others’ mutual benefit.

Until the mission is “out front” as the marketing message, people will simply not trust that their best interest is being served. Otherwise, it won’t be about a culture that you are inviting people to explore, but it will be about the “money vehicle” that is being used to create a financial engine. This is typically the focus of “opportunities”.

But, to be different, to be “special” the starting point has to be about relationships, community, and common purpose.  Until everyone is on this-same-page, from our perspective, the money vehicle doesn’t matter.

That was our “Ah-Ha Moment” and it was our jumping off point to share a philosophy… to create a safe and trusted “place”… and then tie it to strategies to create streams of income.

If this makes sense to you, we invite you to be in touch with us.   Let’s talk… or exchange an e-mail or two.  Let’s start to build a foundation and see if we are made of the same 'materials'. Relationships matter if you want to build something that will last.  Remember, this is all about mutual benefit and common purpose.  We look forward to getting to know you.

The Difference Between a Goal and a Dream is a Deadline

Accountability.  Discipline.  Fundamentals.  Daily activity.  Are these the first things you think of when thinking about success in a home business?

What do you have to do TODAY to "advance" and make money?  By 9:00 tonight, what are you willing to commit to having done?  Then, if you add up all seven days... what will you have accomplished by the end of the week?

These are metrics.  You can't manage what you don't measure.  You need to know your metrics. It all involves being "conscious" of what you have chosen to do and then making the decision to make-it-happen.

When you are beginning, don't worry about the metrics of results.  These will become important later, but when getting started, simply focus on daily activities.  What are you going to commit to doing? This is where is all starts.

Unless you have a well-defined daily goal AND you are actively working on that goal, success is a dream.  This all smells, tastes and feels like work.  Here's why:  it is work.  It takes you out of your normal routines, you need to spend / invest your time differently.  You don't watch TV at your normal job.  You probably can not afford to be watching TV for this self-employment thing.

As such, when you work, you earn your money.  This is a simple, reasonable, adult proposition. There is no free lunch.  Everything requires effort.  Below, you will find what we committed to when we started.

• spend one hour five days a week cold calling business owners (in person) to introduce the business.  Or, go door to door in residential neighborhoods if you are not a "talker" and simply leave information or a business card.
• spend two hours a day posting to social media.  Out of this, interact with a minimum of 2-5 people a day.
• talk to at least to one person on the phone a day to begin building a relationship.  Learn what their needs are and how you may be able to help.
• email follow-up to people to share information regarding the business and how to build the business.  This can be automated with an auto-responder.
• always have leave-behinds and post to bulletin boards, or leave in doctor's office waiting rooms in the magazines, or leave in rest rooms taped to a mirror... be creative with this.

Again, the "goal" initially is daily activity.  Marketing is about getting whatever you have to offer in front of people to evaluate.  We guide people through an information gathering process.  The merits of what we do stand on their own.

Your "job" is simply to get information about our business in front of people.  At some point, your activity will snowball and take on a life of its own.  Until then, it is a grind.  If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.  There are very few shortcuts.  Actually, for most people, there are no short cuts.

It all starts with doing the same things every day... just like any job... until there is momentum that will give you the flexibility to try new things, spend money on tools and leads and take your business to the next level.

Crawl before you walk.  Walk before you run.  Then, when running, it will become a way of life.  But again, there are no shortcuts.

Set daily goals and execute.

My Kangen Conundrum

Preface:  I did not end up doing the Kangen business and it is not a part of my earning portfolio.  I thought someone might be interested in my thought process should they be considering Kangen as an earning platform.
______________________________

I am writing to convince myself, or to talk-myself-out-of doing the Kangen water business.  I write for catharsis and to organize my thoughts.  At the end of this - my goal is to have made a reasonable justification for moving in either direction by being as brutally honest as I can be with myself and with anyone who reads this.

The basic proposition for me is whether my need to make money outweighs the negative press and speculation that exists regarding the Kangen technology and its efficacy.  I sit here, perplexed by the risk of investing $6,000 in a business start-up, but at the same time intrigued by the money and the business model - without having any first hand, tangible knowledge of the product, i.e. I have never tasted the water or experienced its purported benefits.

On this level, I live in Warwick, RI and the taste of the water here would be easily altered if impurities were "cleansed".  I know I could tell with a micro sip.  The water in my home (and I would speculate the entire city) has a discernible organic /musty pallor.  It reminds us the of the taste of mushrooms with a high end negative aftertaste.  We don't drink it. We buy 12 oz. bottles; and also have a filter pitcher in our refrigerator.  So on this level, the "need" exists.  Our city-supplied water, simply and frankly, is a bit gross.  As stated, there is a need.  The real question is, is there a need that  rises to a $6,000 threshold to address?

If you were to read the rest of this blog, I have written about being a "money mercenary" and espouse the proposition of "making money" as an end in itself, or making money as the business model. However, to have a "real" business, the best-case scenario is to offer something for sale that is of real value.  For Kangen, the "value" is hit quite hard by detractors that call ionized water network marketing-driven quackery... the modern day equivalent of snake oil sales (due to its health claims) and in general the "science" is exhaustively discredited by many online sources.

Therefore, "my reality" regarding any initial excitement about the business potential has been tempered by all of this negative press and is the source of my conundrum.  The truth is that personal credibility is very important to me and I want / need to be proud of anything I attach my name to.  At the end of the day, it is a business ethics question.  Will I be promoting something that has value (and) is integrity one of the main pillars on which it is built?   But then, there is another angle... which most people will not have the benefit of knowing.

In my work I use two different machines that employ ionization technology.  I manage custodial operations for a small college.  The first is somewhat un-refutable.  It is a sanitizing blower that "mists" classrooms with hypochlorous acid (on the bleach spectrum).  I "cook" tap water with the gizmo provided with an added pack of (special?) salt water.  The ionizer splits the salt (NaCl)  and produces an acid solution that kills germs.  You can find more about this HERE.  The efficacy and utility of this technology is without question... but it is ionizing salt water.

The second is:  I inherited a new autoscrubber made by Tennant.  Instead of using cleaning chemicals, it has an on-board ionizer that makes its own cleaning solution:  from tap water.  This fact (if one is to believe it as fact) has me a bit stymied... that another (if Kangen is the first) international company is using ionized tap water to clean... then how does this speak to the credibility of the technology and refute the "charlatan hawkers"?  You can see more about this technology HERE. They ionize tap water and create micro bubbles.  However:  Karcher, a German company, is currently suing Tennant about the claims this technology makes and is insisting that the "ionized" water is no more effective than tap water... go to jail... do not pass go... do not collect $200...!

So... another thought.  In internet marketing / money-making circles there are generally two propositions: big ticket and small ticket sales.  Obviously, Kangen is a big ticket sale.  The rationale is that in both, you invest the same amount of work to gain a customer (or prospect), therefore it makes infinitely more sense to follow the money for the greater return for time invested.  I do not necessarily agree, because I view the high ticket price as a barrier to entry.  However, something unique about the way this is marketed is that "credit application" is built right into the automated process.  This is smart and has never been done before, to my knowledge.

As a result, I circle back to the (making money as an end in itself) notion - juxtaposed to making this happen in a product category that is handicapped by skepticism and derision?  I understand this ultimately may come down to a "leap of faith".  There is no question that the high price of the machine(s) supports a generous compensation structure.  Therefore, built into the "proposition" is a high (overpriced?) item that unabashedly backs the notion of making money for its distributors.

Ultimately, am I selling a water machine, or am I selling the ability to make money in the context of crappy tasting water?  I would not anticipate that I would "retail" many of these machines, but would only be selling them to people attracted to the money-making aspects - with (at minimum) better tasting water as a benefit.  As for the health claims... time would need to tell - and this (at best) is subjective.

The reality is this:  there are a lot of people on this band wagon and doing well financially. I need to ask if my healthy skepticism is tantamount to shooting myself in the foot?  And, if my penchant for perfection will once again prevent me from "working within the given parameters".

My conclusion is that nothing is perfect and the primary objective in my life right now is on-going residual income to support my wife and I when we are no longer working within the next 5-10 years. Therefore, with my eyes wide open and with due consideration, I conclude that I must embrace the bad and measure its valence against the potential benefit.  This will be an individual decision for everyone, but I hope that I have shown some light on how I arrived at my decision.

Post Script:  Although I ended with the conclusion above that the money outweighed the ethics, the angel on my shoulder kept whispering in my ear.  I ended up not getting involved with this business.

Fidelity

Fidelity.

In a marriage, this means you promise to love, cherish and forsake all others until death do you part...

In business, (in our business) we simply want to make a case for why this is important.

There are a million ways to make money.  Many people, if they have not yet been successful with a home business / income vehicle can get easily distracted by the "shiny objects" syndrome.  This takes away their focus from their primary, core endeavor by evaluating and (perhaps) participating in other ways to make money.  Some people are successful in doing this.  Most can't.

Our point is this:  if this is your first, real attempt to make money with a home business, stay-the-course and remain faithful to your "core" business, exclusively - until you achieve whatever level of income that enables you to define it as a success.

This focus and commitment is extremely important and it is also why we stress so heavily that you do your homework about us - to gain the belief that investing your time and resources with us is a smart, worthwhile and practical decision.

A Deep Dive Into the Notion of Change

Understanding change is perhaps the most important ingredient to your success.  It is uncomfortable and most people (can not / will not / do not) openly embrace this discomfort.  As a result, nothing happens and the status quo continues to rule lives, incomes, lifestyles and any hope for making progress toward a goal... no matter what that goal might be.

Creating change is analogous to breaking an addiction.  People are "addicted" to the patterns of their lives.  Introducing something new is disruptive and inherently will change these patterns.  Many (most) people can not cope and the "draw" to established and familiar patterns continues to rule their lives.  This is why people stay "stuck" with whatever they are attempting to "change".

For our purposes, we help people change their relationship to money - to achieve first, a level of financial stability, and then build on this to higher and higher levels of prosperity.  This all begins with a decision and a commitment to spend minutes, then hours, then as much time as you can in business building activities.

These chunks of time will necessarily "take the place of" things you "used to do".  This defines change.  BUT, then the 'demon of change' creeps and lurks and constantly pricks you with its discomfort - and the addiction to established and comfortable patterns - and it thwarts your attainment of whatever you are pursuing.

Ultimately, you redefine who you are based upon how you choose to invest your time.  If you can, or if you can't... whether you are successful in achieving a goal - is in the balance.

It all comes down to how you consciously choose to invest minutes and hours of every day to build and income that is independent of your job.

Can you break away from the status quo / comfortable patterns of your life?  Most people can't and remain relegated to the Working Poor.  Those who can, break free and integrate new skills and patterns of behavior into their lives.

On the most fundamental level, success is about conscious choices of how to invest time. Inherently, this differs from how you currently live your life and 'who you are' right now.  You must make this commitment to the "idea" of change as it is presented here.  There is nothing more foundational to understand.